As the partial government shutdown stretches into its fourth week, Utah nonprofits are feeling the pressure, according to a survey by the Utah Nonprofits Association (UNA) which found that 10 percent of its members have seen in increase in the demand for services from furloughed workers.

Nate Salazar was sworn in as the newest board member of the Salt Lake City School District on January 8. Salazar attended Bryant Middle School and graduated from East High School in 2004. He’s currently the only minority on the board for a district where more than half of the students are minorities. He also works in Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski’s office as the associate director of community empowerment. KUER’s Rocio Hernandez spoke with Salazar about what he hopes to accomplish and why he wanted to be on the board.

As the record-breaking government shutdown continues into its fourth week, state budget managers are preparing for portions of the federal government to remain closed for weeks or even months more. That could leave the state to pick up the tab for programs like nutritional assistance and unemployment claims from furloughed federal workers.

Ahead of the upcoming legislative session, a Utah LGBTQ group is preparing a bill that would ban conversion therapy, a form of psychotherapy that purports to help people with same-sex attraction to become heterosexual.

The Utah state constitution was ratified in 1895, nearly three decades after slavery was abolished following the Civil War. Yet state lawmakers at the time allowed for one glaring exception to that law — permitting slavery or indentured servitude as punishment for certain crimes.

Reactions to President Trump’s Oval Office speech on Tuesday night fell predictably along party lines, though more Utah Republicans are openly embracing the president’s hardline stance of keeping the government shuttered as the impasse over wall funding persists.

Despite the government shutdown, there's been a handover at the U.S. Department of the Interior. Former Secretary Ryan Zinke is out, deputy secretary David Bernhardt is in, with a continuance of the Trump Administration policy of energy dominance.

KUER's Diane Maggipinto spoke with Nate Hegyi of KUER's Mountain West News Bureau to sort it out, starting with Zinke's wins and losses.

President Trump is addressing the nation about border security tonight (Tuesday, Jan. 8). Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Charles Schumer will give a joint response immediately following. The government is partially shut down, with Trump in a stalemate with Democrats over funding for a wall along the southern border. Watch his remarks live.

In a story for The Salt Lake Tribune and The Guardian, reporter Nate Carlisle takes a deep dive into a polygamist community of about 400 people in Missouri. He traveled to what locals refer to as “the compound” — polygamist members call it “the ranch” — near Humansville, Missouri in November. KUER reporter Daysha Eaton talked with Carlisle about his reporting and what he learned about this little-known sect of Mormonism.

As a single woman and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Sara Vranes says she was led to believe she needed a man as an intermediary in her relationship with God. And that pained her. But at the beginning of 2019, the Salt Lake City resident said that changed because of new language and rituals in the Church that put women on equal footing with men.

Unlike previous administrations, President Trump’s Interior Department has directed national parks to keep their gates open while furloughing most workers during this latest government shutdown. But as the partial shutdown enters its third week, critics argue the parks are becoming unsafe.

As the partial government shutdown enters its third week, roughly 800,000 federal workers are still without pay. Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, said members of Congress should forfeit pay during government shutdowns, too.